RRC PRODUCTION STATISTICS AND ALLOWABLES FOR JANUARY 2011

AUSTIN––The Texas average rig count as of Dec. 17 was 745, representing about 45 percent of all active land rigs in the United States. In the last 12 months, total Texas reported production was 352 million barrels of oil and 7.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Texas natural gas production represents approximately 29 percent of total U.S. natural gas demand.

The Commission’s estimated final production for October 2010 is 29,696,333 barrels of crude oil and 535,892,746 Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas well gas.

The Commission derives final production numbers by multiplying the preliminary October 2010 production totals of 28,161,530 barrels of crude oil and 493,137,707 Mcf of gas well gas by a production adjustment factor of 1.0545 for crude oil and 1.0867 for gas well gas. (These production totals do not include casinghead gas or condensate.)

Texas natural gas storage reported to the Commission for November 2010 was 477,093,887 Mcf compared to 474,188,896 Mcf in November 2009. The December 2010 gas storage estimate is 447,190,722 Mcf.

The Texas Railroad Commission’s Oil and Gas Division set initial January 2011 natural gas production allowables for prorated fields in the state to meet market demand of 13,532,773 Mcf (thousand cubic feet). In setting the initial January 2011 allowables, the Commission used historical production figures from previous months, producers’ demand forecasts for the coming month, and adjusted the figures based on well capability. These initial allowables will be adjusted after actual production for January 2011 is reported.